the world of organic agriculture - Organic Eprints

and the meat sauce served at IKEA restaurants will be certified organic 34 .
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The World of Organic Agriculture 2006
In most CEE countries, the domestic organic markets are not developing as quickly as their
production sectors, but there are some encouraging signs.
In Hungary, for example, the first specialist organic shops have opened in Budapest. In other
shops, organic food is gaining a higher profile, and there is also more wholesale marketing.
The availability of organic lines continues to improve in the Czech Republic 35 . Consequently the
domestic organic market volume grew to 9 million EUR 36 , 37 .
In Slovenia, organic land area increased substantially to make up almost 5 percent of farmland
area. However, only 15 to 20 percent of the certified farms sell their products as organic, and the
country is lacking the infrastructure to process organic raw materials; there is, for example, no
dairy able to process organic milk. However, many organic products are imported into the country
to supply a growing market. Most of the farmers offer their products directly on-farm and others
have regular stalls on weekly markets 38 . Organic food is sold also through health and wholefood
shops and increasingly in supermarkets 39 . Bio Alpe Adria is a well-established network linking
organic sector organizations across borders between Austria, Slovenia and Italy and developing
co-operation in production and marketing projects among the three countries 40 .
In Poland, the volume of organic food processing and trade is still quite small but constantly
growing. The majority of actors are involved in trade and deep-freezing operations. Most
companies are processing fruit and berries (frozen berries, jam and juice), followed by vegetables
and grains. Only a few companies are processing herbs, meat or milk, or producing organic
feedstuffs. Due to the small-scale farm structure and the lack of processors, a significant part
of the organic agricultural production is still sold on the conventional market or used for home
consumption. Larger farms are producing directly for the export market. Organic food in Poland
is mainly sold in specialist stores together with other health food, regional products, handcrafted,
or dietetic food. A big share of organic products on the Polish market is still imported, mostly from
the neighboring countries Germany and the Czech Republic. Further growth of the organic sector
in Poland is expected because the national and the regional governments and many companies are
trying hard to push the development of organic agriculture 41 .
In Lithuania, organic food is sold mainly by the supermarket chains ”IKI” und ”MAXIMA”, which
have stores all over the country, as well as a number of ‘Tatulos’ shops in the North. They market
34 foodnavigator.com news July 2007
35 http://www.bio-markt.info/index.php?action=,35, 51,46, , 32,67_n268__.
36 9 million EUR = 10.9 million USD (per 31.12.2005)
37 Tom Vaclavik (Green Marketing)
38 eco-connect newsletter 3
39 Kreuzer at http://www.bio-markt.info/index.php?action=,35, 51,46, , 32,67_n266__
40 http://www.bioalpeadria.info/
41 IJHARS 2005 and EkoConnect research